Penn State football players of the game against Maryland

A look at Penn State football’s players of the game from their 66-3 annihilation of Maryland in Saturday’s regular season finale.

Believe it or not, the regular season has come to an end for the Penn State football team. A season that started with great expectations has ended with the Nittany Lions sitting as a top-10 team with a 10-2 record. The season ended on the highest of notes as the Nittany Lions put together their most complete game of the season by destroying Maryland 66-3.

This marks just the third time since joining the Big Ten that Penn State has put together consecutive 10+ win seasons. Now, the Nittany Lions will sit and wait to find out their bowl bid which will come next Sunday. But first, here are the players of the game form their decimation of Maryland.

Offense – quarterback Trace McSorley

Once again, the Nittany Lions’ high-powered offense was led by redshirt junior quarterback Trace McSorley. Playing 45 minutes from his hometown McSorley went 22-for-33 for 237 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He also ran for 36 yards and a score.

Trace McSorley’s rushing touchdown on Saturday gave him 11 this season. That tied

him with Michael Robinson in 2005 for the most rushing touchdowns in a season by a Penn State quarterback.

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Also in this game, McSorley went over 3,000 yards passing for a second consecutive season. His 3,231 passing yards this season lead the Big Ten. As he has been all season, McSorley continues to be the catalyst of Penn State’s offense and one of the best quarterbacks in the FBS.

Honorable mention: QB Tommy Stevens, RB Saquon Barkley

Defense – defensive end Shane Simmons

This one was a tough call. There were multiple players who could have gotten the nod as Penn State’s defensive player of the game against Maryland, but VBR’s nod will go to redshirt freshman defensive end Shane Simmons.

Playing against his hometown Terrapins, Shane Simmons had the best game of his career. While he was credited with just one tackle, he was a disruptive force all afternoon long for the Nittany Lions defense.

Simmons had three quarterback hurries, a quarterback hit, and he forced a pair of incompletions. He also blew up multiple run plays from his defensive end position.

In recent weeks it has appeared that things are starting to click for Shane Simmons. The former five-star recruit has started to show this five-star ability and Saturday was his best game yet. Simmons will be a terror for Big Ten offenses in the years to come.

Honorable mention: CB Grant Haley, DE Daniel Joseph

Special teams – the brothers McPhearson

The Nittany Lions’ roster is littered with players from the state of Maryland and the DMV region. Two of these players are senior special teamer Josh McPhearson and redshirt freshman cornerback Zech McPhearson. In Saturday’s victory, both brothers had great games on special teams.

The biggest play from the two came when Josh forced a fumble on kickoff coverage and Zech recovered it. Additionally, both players had multiple tackles on special teams. Saturday’s game was a great homecoming for the McPhearson brothers, especially Josh who was playing in the final regular season game of his Penn State football career.

Honorable mention: P Blake Gillikin, K Tyler Davis

Next: Penn State 66, Maryland 3

That will do it for this week and the regular season. Now, the Nittany Lions will take a break for a week or two before starting bowl practices and preparing for whichever bowl game they draw. Odds are, Penn State will be making their second consecutive trip to a New Year’s Six Bowl.

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